REVEALED: toughest places to pay the rent in Queensland

VULNERABLE Queenslanders are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, with barely enough money for necessities like food and medicine after paying rent, a new report reveals.

The latest rental affordability report card out today reveals students living near Brisbane's CBD are forking out nearly half their income on rent, while single pensioners are giving their landlords more than two-thirds of what they earn.

The national Rental Affordability Index, released by National Shelter, Community Sector Banking and SGS Economics & Planning, recorded a slight improvement in affordability in Queensland in the June quarter, with average income households spending a quarter of their earnings on rent.

But in inner-city Brisbane and on the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, 30 per cent or more of an average income household's earnings are being spent on rent.

The RAI's benchmark for housing stress is when 30 per cent of a household's income is spent on rent - above that threshold people have difficulty paying for primary needs, such as food, air conditioning, medicine and transport, according to the report authors.

The least affordable areas in Greater Brisbane include the affluent suburbs of Brookfield and Bulimba and Kobble Creek and Samsonvale in the Moreton Bay region, where 34 per cent of household income is spent on rent.

The median rental household in Greater Brisbane has a gross income of $83,500 per annum, according to SGS Economics & Planning.

On the Gold Coast, Robina and Currumbin Waters are considered unaffordable for the average renter, along with Noosa and Palmwoods on the Sunshine Coast.

"We all expect Brisbane and the Gold Coast to have affordability issues, but the Sunshine Coast is more surprising," National Shelter executive officer Adrian Pisarski said.

"For a pensioner couple on $45,000 a year, there are no affordable rental options on the Sunshine Coast."

Median rents relative to household income are more affordable in the regions of Ipswich and Redbank, according to the Rental Affordability Index.

Students, with a job on the side earning the maximum allowable income and living in a share house, are paying 28 per cent of their income on rent.

But those living close to Brisbane's CBD are paying considerably more - 45 per cent of their earnings go towards rent.

For young people on benefits, rents are untenable across Brisbane, amounting to more than 100 per cent of total income, according to the report.

The latest Rental Affordability Index shows Queensland students and pensioners are in rental stress.

The index found Brisbane pensioners are the hardest hit, with singles having to spend 67 per cent of their income, and couples 44 per cent, to secure a new lease.

Single income families with children pay a quarter of their income for a new rental, leaving little for the cost of childcare and education.

This is despite rents actually falling in Brisbane by 0.4 per cent in the year to September, according to the latest Housing Industry Association figures.

Advocacy groups are calling on the federal government to introduce a national housing plan and say more share housing and social housing are the only affordable solutions.

"Affordability is a far bigger problem for renters than homeowners, and yet everyone wants to focus on homeownership," Mr Pisarski said.

"To accommodate the growing proportion of renters and to house them affordably we really need a national housing plan."

Mr Pisarski said Queensland had one of the lowest proportions of social housing in the country.

"The mantra that we need more supply isn't holding up," he said.

"We need specific supply strategies for affordable and social housing - it's the bottom of the market that's continually missing out and governments have a responsibility for that."

National Shelter executive officer Adrian Pisarski.

Anglicare Australia and the National Union of Students are calling on the federal government to provide more support for students in next year's budget.

"Students are being forced into poverty, and many cannot afford basic necessities," Jill Molloy of the National Union of Students said.

"Many students are also having negative experiences where they live - 49 per cent told us they were struggling with rent costs."

Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers agreed students who relied on Youth Allowance or Austudy were struggling to pay rent.

According to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland, about one third of Queenslanders rent their home.

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella said spending 30 per cent of a household's income on rent was considered affordable and that rents in Queensland were significantly lower than in Victoria and New South Wales.

Ms Mercorella agreed affordable student accommodation in Brisbane's CBD was hard to find, but pointed out there were some developments in the pipeline that could bring an extra 8000 beds to the market and ease some of that pressure.

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella. Photo: Claudia Baxter.

She said there was a shortfall in affordable, fit-for-purpose accommodation for the aged community.

"It's not a problem that is unique to Queensland," she said.

"It's a national issue that requires more attention than it currently receives."

QUEENSLAND'S LEAST AFFORDABLE SUBURBS FOR AVERAGE RENTERS

1. Kobble Creek/Samsonvale

2. Brookfield/Kenmore

3. Samford Village

4. Eatons Hill

5. Burbank/Mackenzie

6. Bulimba/Hawthorne

7. Carbrook

8. The Gap

9. Worongary

10. Wakerley/Ransome

11. Currumbin Waters

12. Robina

13. Upper Kedron/Ferny Hills

14. Spring Hill

15. Petrie Terrace

16. Paddington/Rosalie

17. New Farm

18. Burleigh Heads

19. St Lucia

20. West End/Highgate Hill

(Source: SGS Economics & Planning 2017. Based on an average income household of $80,000)